http://news.ycombinator.com Hacker News http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?ContentBlockID=340a79d6-839a-470d-b662-944325cea23d& <pre> [IMG]Piper: 866-FLY-PIPERDiamond Aircraft: Join Our Family Wednesday, August 20, 2008 Aero-News Network: The Aviation and Aerospace World's Daily/Real-Time News and Information Service In order to access all we have to offer, you may need to upgrade your browser or change your settings. Click here to find out how. -- Links (2.1pre33; Linux 2.6.16.29-xen x86_64) -- Top News ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wed, Aug 20 2008 Reports Of Casualties Following Spanair MD82 Overrun [IMG] Plane Aborted First Takeoff, Returned For Maintenance [IMG]ANN REALTIME REPORTING 08.20.08 1130 EDT: Authorities say at least 45 passengers were lost Wednesday when a Spanair MD-82 overran the runway on takeoff from Madrid Barajas International Airport. Witness reports to CNN indicate Flight 5022 to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands suffered an unknown explosion during takeoff, and skidded off Runway 36R. Thick smoke still poured from the wreckage one hour after the crash. Local media states the aircraft had aborted a previous takeoff attempt, and returned to the gate for maintenance. The flight then departed, about one hour past its scheduled time. Scandinavian flag carrier SAS, which owns Spanair, confirmed the crash. "Spanair regrets to confirm that its flight number JK 5022 from Madrid to Las Palmas de Gran Canarias was involved in an accident at Madrid, at 14.45 hours local time today," the airline said in a statement. "Spanair is doing everything possible to assist the Spanish authorities at this difficult time. Spanair will provide further information as soon as it becomes available." The Associated Press quotes Spanish emergency ministers stating at least 20 of the reported 166 passengers and crew onboard were killed, and 57 were injured. "It is a certain catastrophe," one unnamed official with SAMUR, Madrid's emergency response force, told the AP. The flight was operating as a codeshare for Lufthansa. ANN will update this story as more information becomes available. FMI: www.spanair.com Read more Tue, Aug 19 2008 Grob Aerospace Files For Insolvency Read more Wed, Aug 20 2008 Congressional Hearing To Be Held On Eclipse 500 Type Certification Read more Wed, Aug 20 2008 Pilots Set New World Record For RTW Helo Flight Read more Wed, Aug 20 2008 Aero-TV Interviews A True Master Flight Instructor -- Max Trescott (Part One) Read more Tue, Aug 19 2008 Avidyne Briefs Aero-TV On The New Entegra IFD8000 and PFD4000 Systems Read more Wed, Aug 20 2008 Commuter Flights Grounded Thanks To Bumbling TSA Inspector Read more Tue, Aug 19 2008 FAA Orders Southwest To Pay Fine By August 29 Read more Mon, Aug 18 2008 Investigators Sorting Out Details Of British Midair Collision Read more Tue, Aug 19 2008 General Dynamics To Acquire Jet Aviation For $2.25 Billion Read more Current E-Vents There are no events scheduled for the moment. Subscribe to Aero-News Enter your email address and choose the Aero-Newsletters you want to be subscribed to. 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Our use of JavaScript is limited only to giving you a more interactive experience. </pre><p><a href='item?id=281595'>6 Comments</a></p> http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/20/justhackit-its-like-a-dating-site-for-hackers/ <pre> * * TechCrunch Network * CrunchBase * CrunchBoard * CrunchGear * CrunchNotes * Elevator Pitches * Gillmor Gang * InviteShare * MobileCrunch * TalkCrunch * TechCrunch * TechCrunch50 * TechCrunchIT * TechCrunch France * TechCrunch Japan * TechCrunch UK * _____________________ [ Search ] IFrame TechCrunch IFrame * About * Contact * Company Index * Advertise * Archives * TC50 * Pitches * TechCrunchIT * Subscribe by: RSS * CrunchBar * Email * Subscriber count << Previous post TechCrunch Sponsors Next post >> [IMG][IMG][IMG][IMG][IMG][IMG][IMG][IMG][IMG][IMG] [USEMAP] August 20, 2008 [IMG] [IMG] JustHackIt: It's Like a Dating Site For [IMG] Hackers Marketing Consulting by Pronet Erick Schonfeld 6 comments >> [IMG]Got that hacking jones, but can't find anyone to hack with? Head on over to JustHackIt, a site aimed at developers that launched last night. It is a place for developers to find each other, work on projects, and maybe even start a company. Developers can post projects they want to do and search through postings from other hackers. The site describes itself this way: The idea: Outside of Silicon Valley, lots of hackers are interested in web startups but don't have a plethora of available co-founders to start a company with. Even if you know other hackers, often there are times when you want to start a project but your friends are busy. So the idea is to connect people who want to build something RIGHT NOW. Ideas can be simple 1 page websites or complex Google competitors It reads a bit like the personals section of Craigslist, but don't let that turn you off. Basically, it is a bulletin board for hackers. The problem is that it is too simplistic. Once you start a project, then what? Who owns it, how are any revenues or shares in a resulting company/site divvied up? JustHackIt doesn't help to answer those questions. [IMG] * Sphere It * * This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 6:55 am and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Comments [IMG] Zohaib - August 20th, 2008 at 7:04 am PDT WOW!!! AMAZING! Now THIS is something which would really really help hackers away from Silicon Valley to get someone to work on their killer idea. Awesome! reply Otilia @ Ad Ops Online - August 20th, 2008 at 7:11 am PDT Ah, the infusion of geeky teens hurrying to be officially call `hackers' and work as a `community' must be quite entertaining! reply David Lee - August 20th, 2008 at 7:16 am PDT good show like cityquery? see http://www.cityquery.com reply Beijing Olympics 2008 Closing Ceremony - August 20th, 2008 at 7:24 am PDT wow!!! a dating site for hackers!!! this is great because i'm a hacker too. haha reply Jon Ursenbach - August 20th, 2008 at 7:36 am PDT This really necessary? Their entire site is powered by Slinkset. Probably took them a few hours to put it all together. It really that newsworthy? reply Julie Kentwood - August 20th, 2008 at 7:38 am PDT This is pretty cute. I could easily see something productive coming out of all this, like a couple cool web apps or tools reply Leave a Reply Click here to cancel your reply. Name* _______________________ Email* _______________________ Website _______________________ Create a Gravatar for your comments. _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ [ Add Comment ] [ Submit Comment ] Or add a Video Comment with Seesmic Logo << Back to text comment << Previous post Next post >> (c) 2008 TechCrunch [IMG] Quantcast </pre><p><a href='item?id=281450'>20 Comments</a></p> http://webjackalope.com/web-development-tools-mac/ <pre> Web Jackalope Web Development Magazine * Home * About _____________________ 23 Essential Tools For Web Development on a Mac August 18th, 2008 Web development tools mac Photo by bre pettis. Every web developer has their own favorite platform to create in. Some prefer Linux, while other prefer Windows or Mac. One thing is for certain though: each platform has a passionate rabid community behind it. Those web developers who prefer the Mac are no different, and for good reason: The Mac boasts some excellent software for web development. Here are some essential bits of software that every Mac-owning web developer should have in their toolkits. From text editors to command line tools, here is the best Cupertino has to offer to aid the web developer, soup to nuts. Text Editors When it comes to text editors, there are quite a few choices to choose from. Some are free, some are paid, but like any bit of software it all comes down to the developer's preference. The same is true between the two most popular text editors for the Mac, Textmate and BBEdit. Textmate Project Window With Tabs Textmate is one of the most popular of the text editors. It has a bevy of features, like file tabbing for having multiple files open in a project, works with xcode, and integrates with FTP clients. It also comes equipped with "bundles" that allows you to have multiple different configurable languages. (This post is actually being written and published in Textmate.) Textmate isn't free, however, and costs $59. Check out Textmate's manual to get a better feel for how Textmate works. BBEdit Project Window With Tabs BBEdit BBEdit is another full-featured text editor that is very similar to Textmate in terms of features. The BBEdit product page even has a section for web developers to see the benefits of BBEdit. For those Mac users who think BBEdit is better than Textmate, it's usually because BBEdit is a Cocoa application, and TextMate is a Unix application. Without getting into the nitty-gritty between the two editors, the main differences between the two applications are 1) look-and-feel and 2) price. BBEdit is a steep $125, more than double the price of TextMate. Test Environments It's important to have a good test environment on the mac, especially if you're programming with a dynamic language. Since the majority web development is done in PHP or Rails, it's best to set up a test environment with the likes of Apache and MySQL. There is one tool that makes this all very easy. MAMP Controllcenter MAMP MAMP is a quick and painless way to set up Macintosh, Apache, MySQL and PHP in the same environment. What used to be a tedious process now literally takes just a few seconds between downloading MAMP and installing the software. Instantly you've got a fully-functional web testing environment for your PHP applications. It also comes locked and loaded with PHP extensions like Zend, and you can specify different cacheing types like APC, eAccelerator or XCache. You can apparently use MAMP to run a Rails environment as well. Update: Thanks to some savvy commenters, I'm adding Aptana to the list. Aptana is a programming environment for languages like PHP, Rails, Java, Ajax, Javascript and others. The software also comes with optional plugins like Adobe AIR and an iPhone environment. The community edition is 100% Open Source, and they have a Pro Edition with paid support and a few extra features. FTP Cyberduck Cyberduck Photo by ClausM Cyberduck is an incredibly user friendly FTP client that's provided for free and licensed under GPL. It can be used in many different settings, like FTP, SFTP, WebDAV and Amazon S3 straight out of the box. Cyberduck also integrates seamlessly with essential Mac functionality, like Bonjour, iDisk, Growl, AppleScript, Spotlight and even Quick Look to instantly see the guts of the file with a tap of the spacebar. My favorite aspect of Cyberduck (aside from the free-ness), is the fact that it integrates easily with many text editors like Textmate. As an added bonus, Cyberduck also allows you to use Quicksilver to access your FTP bookmarks. Very handy. Transmit Transmit mac ftp If Cyberduck is a cadillac of FTP clients, than Panic's Transmit is a Rolls-Royce. It offers almost all of the same functionality as Cyberduck, but adds a little more robustness for advanced user. For example, you can edit any remote file (even a picture or graphic) in any software using Transmit. The only downside to Transmit is that it costs $29.95, whereas Cyberduck is free. Code Editors Text editors offer a simple, no-frills approach to programmers. However, sometimes developers prefer to use software that has more of an interface than the traditional text editor. Here are some code editors that allow you to do things with more of a visual approach and allow for greater functionality. cssedit Cssedit mac cssedit is a CSS editor with a fantastic user interface. It has the look and feel of a Mac application, which makes the experience of editing CSS much more enjoyable. It has nice built in features like being able to extract stylesheets and learn from other other websites, an inline visual editor, and you can even edit css inside of ajax. cssedit will cost you almost $43, but if you're a sucker for beautiful interfaces, this software might be exactly what you're looking for. Coda Coda If you're building a site from scratch, it's nice to have a program like Coda where you can manage all the files and FTP functionality from within one program. Built by Panic, the same guys who develop Transmit, Coda is a one-stop solution for web developer. Within code you can manage files, ftp to a server, preview the code, use a css editor (like cssedit), and even use Terminal all from within Coda. And if that weren't enough, they've thrown in a copy of The Programmer's Desk Reference from within the software. Changes Changes diff mac Changes is a nifty application that lets you visually browse changes to your code base. Instead of having to use a subversion to manage your code base (though Changes works with svn and other repository software), you can use Changes. This is great for sites that have multiple developers working on them and want to make sure their code is up to date. You can use your favorite text editor like Textmate or BBEdit to edit files. Collaboration Any web developer knows that collaboration is a huge part of web development.From asking questions in forums or IRC channels, to working in a code base that is shared among other developers, programmers need fraternization with other developers. Colloquy Colloquy IRC is an old skool method of chatting online, and has been the method of choice for programmers and developers to communicate. Many major projects like Wordpress use IRC to provide support for their open source projects. Colloquy is an extremely helpful IRC client for the Mac. It's open source, allows for plugins and styles, and even has an iphone interface. Robust, elegant and powerful. SubEthaEdit Subethaedit SubEthaEdit is a collaborative text editor for the Mac. You can use the software as a text editor, note-taker and for co-writing text. It integrates with Bonjour, iChat and Mail, but isn't limited to those integrations. SubEthaEdit also has a fairly robust editing syntax for many different languages. So really, this is a swiss-army tool for developers that work in a collaborative environment that share code often. It's not free (around $54), but SubEthaEdit could be well worth the price given its usefulness. Skype Skype Tool Photo by Huasonic. While it's not typically thought of as a web developer's tool, Skype can be a lifesaver. Not only can it save lots of coin on your cellphone bill, Skype adds a lot of features that a traditional phone can't touch. For example, Skype has a pane for text messaging and sharing files. The ability to share snippets of code while you're talking is essential. While the video feature might not be that useful to web developers (who'd want to see my ugly mug?!), some might find it useful as well. Oh, and did I mention it was free? Command Line The command line is not for the faint of heart. It can be incredibly useful, and incredibly frustrating for new users. So much functionality and power in one little window, yet the learning curve can be steep. Terminal The built-in Terminal is a great place to start when working with the command line. There's a great guide to learning Terminal, but essentially Terminal is a bare-bones tool that allows you to do just about... anything. I'd recommend you read the tutorial for a better explanation (as it's outside the scope of this article). I'd also recommend snagging the Quicksilver plugin for Terminal to help speed your usage. iTerm Iterm If you're looking for a way to ease the pain of using the command line and Terminal, try iTerm. iTerm is a "Terminal emulation program" that adds a bit more functionality and user friendliness to Terminal. It offers features like multiple tabs, bonjour support, bookmarks, and much more. Database Managment Managing databases can be a pickle for the casual developer. If you're just wanting a simple install of Drupal, creating a database is a necessary evil. It's nice to have software that can add an interface that doesn't require you to know SQL to help with functions like creating a database, adding users, or creating tables and rows. phpMyAdmin Php my Admin mac Programmer Photo by jeromejtk phpMyAdmin is the kindly old grandfather of database management scripts. Not necessarily hip to an attractive user interface, phpMyAdmin still has the skills to pay the bills. You can manage your databases locally using this stable script. It ships with MAMP, so installation is a breeze. If you're not MAMP, then you'll have to configure PHP to run on your Mac, which is a much more involved process. Still, phpMyAdmin is a tried and tested solution for managing databases with a UI. CocoaMySQL Cocamysql web development CocalMySQL is a database tool developed specifically for Mac with Cocoa. It has the elegant look and feel of a true Mac application, and is laden with features. CocoaMySQL is much easier than phpMyAdmin on almost all fronts; it's easier to setup, has a much more intuitive interface, and runs more like a Mac program. The software is also licensed under the free GPL license. Image Editing Photo editing and design creation may not be at the core of a web developer's responsibility, but there are some instances where it's handy to have a solid photo editor that is nearly comparable to Photoshop, but won't break the bank. Gimp Gimp osx Aperture Gimp used with Aperture Gimp is the closest thing to Photoshop that Mac users can get with a $0 price tag. It has many features and has the ability to be extended with Gimp plugins. Gimp is an application application for developing for web development. While it isn't quite as useful and feature-rich as Photoshop, it comes pretty close. Note: You'll need Apple's X11 environment installed. Seashore Seashore is equivalent of a little brother to Gimp. While it's code base is based off of Gimp, it doesn't aim to be as robust or functional. Seashore is meant to meet the needs of "normal" computer users, not to be a replacement for a professional image editor. The software is only a tiny 5.4 MB in size and unlike Gimp doesn't require having X11 installed. If your image-editing needs are modest, try Seashore. Pixelmator Pixelmator Pixelmator is a beautiful image editing program for the mac. It's incredibly intuitive and useful, but doesn't have all the features of a Gimp or Photoshop. It's got all the layer editing and retouching tools that we've grown to love, and the interface is gorgeous. The only downside to Pixelmator is the $59 price tag, which is still a drop in the bucket compared to Photoshop. Miscellaneous Here's a collection of tools that every web developer should have on their Mac, but don't necessarily fit into one category. These programs are just as useful as the other applications in the list, just harder to categorize. Firefox Firefox mac Firefox 3 on a Mac. Photo by hawkfb Unless you've been living under a rock for the last few years, you've probably heard of Firefox. Not only is Firefox an excellent web browser, the real power of the browser lies in the ability to add extensions that aid in the web development process. Here are a few must-haves for developers and programmers. * Firebug - A swiss army extension that provides diagnostics of all kinds on web pages, javascript, css and more. * Web Developer - Another swiss-army extension for developers. You can do just about anything with this tool, like disable scripts and styles, find broken links and images, check Whois of websites, display form information, and so much more. * YSlow - this is a Fiebug extension (yes, an extension of an extension), YSlow adds diagnostics that show what's slowing your webpage down. It provides a "report card" of sorts to help you work on issues that slow your site down. * Greasemonkey - Greasemonkey is a gateway extension of sorts. With Greasemonkey, you can add literally just about any sort of functionality via userscripts. There are any number of web developer extensions that one could add to Firefox. It's just a matter of finding the right one. Quicksilver Quicksilver mac Developer Quicksilver photo by bwana. Quicksilver is a launcher tool that does so much more for developers. If you're wanting to save time and keyboard strokes, consider giving Quicksilver reign over your computer. For more information as to what Quicksilver is, check out Lifehacker's introduction to the Mac launcher. The real beauty of Quicksilver lies in the countless plugins with software that many web developers already use. Xcode Xcode Photo by barcoder96 Xcode is Apple's development package. This gi-normous 900mb download adds tons upon tons of system mojo that you'll probably have to eventually install to your system that you'll probably use down the line. Many serious development software like SVN and the like use dependancies that Xcode takes care of. Xcode is free for the taking. Isolator Isolator for mac developer concentration While Isolator isn't a crucial application for developers, it's quite handy for blocking out distractions while you're getting work done. Isolator is a free program that blocks out everything but the single application you're working on. This gives a distraction-free environment for writing, programming, or whatever else needs your attention. Just tap the keyboard command cmd + shift + I (or use the toolbar menu) to start/stop Isolator. Spaces Spaces mac Spaces is a handy built-in application for Leopard users. It allows you to set up virtual "spaces" for different screens on your computer. This is helpful for developers because you can separate your work flow into different panes. For example, you could have ftp and terminal open in one space, Textmate in another, Firefox in the third and Gimp or Photoshop in the fourth. It's easy to toggle between the spaces using the command ctrl + arrow, or you can use ctrl + the number of the space you want to switch to. Nobody likes to toggle through tons of different applications at a time. Spaces effectively clears up much of your work area, allowing you to segment your applications into whichever configuration you're most comfortable with. Subscribe to Web Jackalope by RSS or Twitter for more helpful articles for savvy web developers. Categories: Software Tags: Featured, features, mac, web development 12 Responses to &#822023 Essential Tools For Web Development on a Mac" 1. [IMG] 23 Essential Tools For Web Development on a Mac Aug 18th, 2008 at 3:14 pm [...] Original post by admin [...] 2. [IMG] SeanJA Aug 19th, 2008 at 5:02 am Myacintosh? I believe you mean Macintosh. I would add some ides to that list, Komodo Edit, and Aptana for example. If you have to deal with smarty, Komodo Edit is amazing, and Aptana will help you with css by letting you preview what your css will be doing in an IE and FF tab (probably not IE on the mac though...). 3. [IMG] ed Aug 19th, 2008 at 5:04 am MAMP and Pixelmator look good, thanks for the list. 4. [IMG] Dan Dawson Aug 19th, 2008 at 8:39 am Great list of applications! Most I have and use, but a few others that are great: TextWrangler for text editing, has FTP functionality, etc. and is on the less expensive side. Adium for instant messaging with support for many messaging systems. Great list! 5. Ned Baldessin Aug 19th, 2008 at 9:23 am Don't forget xScope : http://iconfactory.com/software/xscope 6. [IMG] sikanrong Aug 19th, 2008 at 1:06 pm TEXTMATE FOR THE WIN!!! 7. Lamer Aug 20th, 2008 at 1:09 am Lame. List blogging just to blog a list to generate buzz. 8. Iain Aug 20th, 2008 at 2:35 am Enjoyed the list. Ignore comments from douchebags like the appropriately tagged "Lamer". Keep it up! 9. [IMG] BlackMac Aug 20th, 2008 at 7:46 am "it's usually because BBEdit is a Cocoa application, and TextMate is a Unix application". Wow, that sentence is totally incorrect: "it's usually because BBEdit is a Carbon application, and TextMate is a Cocoa application" would at least be technically right. 10. Aaron Aug 20th, 2008 at 8:53 am So that everyone knows, if you buy Coda, you get all the collaborative elements of SubEthaEdit. They licenced the text editor from them. Also, for an inexpensive HTML editor, I like skEdit. http://www.skti.org/skedit/ 11. Hmmm Aug 20th, 2008 at 9:02 am Aside from the Cocoa/Unix confusion, the look-and-feel of TextMate and BBEdit sure looks the same from your screenshots. Very decent list anyway, I regularly use most of these apps. Of course, I find Adobe quite hard to avoid in this job... 12. Nick Hoffman Aug 20th, 2008 at 9:30 am People should stop using FTP to transfer files. At the very least, FTP+SSL should be used, so that your account password and files are transferred over an encrypted connection. In this day and age though, why isn't everybody using SSH? There are implementations for every platform, from *NIX to Windows, iPhone, etc. Cheers, Nick Leave a Reply _________________________________________ Name Required _________________________________________ Email (not published) Required _________________________________________ Website _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ [ Submit ] [ Reset ] You can use these XHTML tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <strong> << 15 Quick Ways to Shrink Page Load Times Welcome to Web Jackalope [IMG] * -> Subscribe by RSS * -> Subscribe by Email * -> Follow with Twitter follow on Twitter Recently on Web Jackalope 23 Essential Tools For Web Development on a Mac 23 Essential Tools For Web Development on a Mac 15 Quick Ways to Shrink Page Load Times 15 Quick Ways to Shrink Page Load Times Taking Back the Homepage: 12 Ways to Design For the Fickle Web User Taking Back the Homepage: 12 Ways to Design For the Fickle Web User more productive workspaces for programmers Copyright (c) 2008 Web Jackalope Theme by Justin Tadlock Powered by Wordpress </pre><p><a href='item?id=281434'>14 Comments</a></p> http://www.devx.com/SpecialReports/Article/38884 <pre> Internet.com - The Network for Technology Professionals * IT * internet.com/IT * internet.com/CIO * internet.com/Security * internet.com/Networking * internet.com/Storage * bITa Planet * CIO Update * Database Journal * Datamation * Enterprise IT Planet * Enterprise Networking Planet * Enterprise Storage Forum * eSecurity Planet * Hardware Central * Intranet Journal * ISP Planet * ITSMwatch * IT Channel Planet * Linux Planet * Open Networks Today * ServerWatch * VoIP Planet * WebVideoUniverse * Wi-Fi Planet * WinDrivers.com * Network Map * Developer * internet.com/Developer * 15 Seconds * 4GuysFromRolla.com * ASP101 * CodeGuru * Developer.com * DevX * FlashKit.com * Gamelan * JARS * JavaScript.com * JavaScriptSource * PHPBuilder.com * ScriptSearch * VB Forums * VB Wire * WebDeveloper.com * Webreference * Network Map * News * Internetnews.com * Linux Today * Network Map * Small Business * Ecommerce Guide * Refer-It * SmallBusinessComputing * Webopedia * WinPlanet * Network Map * Personal Tech * BlackBerryToday * iPhoneGuide * Jumbo * Megapixel.net * Palm Boulevard * PDAStreet * PocketPCWire * SharkyExtreme * Smart Phone Today * The List: ASPs * The List: Broadband * The List: ISPs * The List: WebHosts * The List: WebDesigners * Wi-FiHotSpotList * WindowsMobileToday * Network Map * Events * JupiterEvents * internet.com/webcasts * Jobs * Partners * Solutions * eBooks * Video * Shop * Login * Manage My Profile * Register * Why Join? ____________ [ go ] advertisement [IMG] [IMG] Premier Club Log In/Registration [IMG] _________________________________________ [ ] Include Code [ Submit ] Search Tips TODAY'S HEADLINES | ARTICLE ARCHIVE | SKILLBUILDING | TIP BANK | SOURCEBANK | FORUMS | NEWSLETTERS Browse DevX advertisement IBM Software Construction [IMG] Toolbox Developer Tools & Average Rating: 5/5 | Rate this item | 2 users have rated this item. 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Advertise | Newsletters | Tech Jobs | Shopping | E-mail Offers Solutions Whitepapers and eBooks Microsoft Article: RODCs Transform Intel Go Parallel Article: Intel Branch Office Security Threading Tools and OpenMP Microsoft Article: Security HP eBook: Storage Networking , Part Enhancements Abound in Windows 1 Server 2008 Avaya Article: Speech Sandbox: Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro: Web Application Simulation in Avaya Conferencing and eLearning Dialog Designer Whitepapers MORE WHITEPAPERS, EBOOKS, AND Avaya Article: Avaya AE Services ARTICLES Provide Rapid Telephony Integration with Facebook Intel Go Parallel Article: Getting Started with TBB on Windows Webcasts HP Webcast: Disaster Recovery HP Webcast: Storage Is Changing Fast Planning - Be Ready or Be Left Behind HP Video: StorageWorks EVA4400 and MORE WEBCASTS, PODCASTS, AND VIDEOS Oracle Downloads and eKits IBM TCO eKIT: Your IT Budget is Red Gate Download: SQL Toolbelt and Under Attack, Get in Control free High-Performance SQL Code eBook IBM Energy Efficiency eKIT: Learn Iron Speed Designer Application How to Reduce Costs Generator 30-Day Trial: SPAMfighter Exchange MORE DOWNLOADS, EKITS, AND FREE Module TRIALS Tutorials and Demos Microsoft Article: Silverlight HP Demo: StorageWorks EVA4400 Streaming--Free Video Hosting for All MORE TUTORIALS, DEMOS AND Featured Algorithm: Intel Threading STEP-BY-STEP GUIDES Building Blocks - parallel_reduce </pre><p><a href='item?id=281446'>25 Comments</a></p> http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14552-mirror-test-shows-magpies-arent-so-birdbrained.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news4_head_dn14552 <pre> Advertising New Scientist|Space|Technology|Environment|New Scientist Jobs|Subscribe to New Scientist NewScientist.com _____________________ [ SEARCH ] Subscribe to New Scientist magazine * NEWS * |EXPLORE BY SUBJECT * |SPECIAL REPORTS * |LAST WORD * |SUBSCRIBE * |BLOGS * |VIDEO * |ARCHIVE * |RSS * |E-ZINE Full Access Breaking News The World's No.1 Science & Technology News Service LATEST HEADLINES Mirror test shows magpies aren't so bird-brained * 'Coreless' planets may be Movie Camera bad for life * 01:00 19 August 2008 * Google buries * NewScientist.com news service $10m in * Alison Motluk underground power Printable versionEmail to a friendRSS FeedSyndicate Movie Camera * Watson vs Venter: [EMBED] the loser is New research shows that magpies can recognise themselves - race-based the first time this has been shown in non-mammals. medicine Watch the full-size video * Aggression Magpies with coloured stickers recognise themselves in the written in the mirror (Credit: Helmut Prior, Goethe University) shape of a man's Magpies with coloured stickers recognise themselves in the face mirror (Credit: Helmut Prior, Goethe University) * Shipwreck fuels invasion of Most popular yesterday unwanted species * Shock absorbers Polygamy is the key to a long life to quell NASA rocket's Bloating galaxies confound astronomers vibrations * First red blood Mirror test shows magpies aren't so bird-brained cells grown in the lab Herbivores eat away at climate-change predictions * Polygamy is the key to a long Gluttony - not laziness - to blame for obesity life * ALL LATEST NEWS smart PRINT EDITION Most commented yesterday Subscribe Cover of Polygamy is the key to a long life latest issue of New Scientist magazine Herbivores eat away at climate-change predictions * Current issue * Archive Climate myths: Global warming stopped in 1998 * Full Access Bloating galaxies confound astronomers NEW SCIENTIST JOBS World's farmers turn to raw sewage for irrigation NEW SCIENTIST VIDEO STORY STUDY Magpie in the mirror SUBSCRIPTIONS CENTRE Mirrored magpie Get 4 extra free Movie Camera issues and unlimited Magpies recognise their own reflection, throwing current free access to brain theory into doubt NewScientist.com SUBSCRIBE MOST POPULAR RENEW Olympic swimming pool GIFT Tumbling records SUBSCRIPTION Should technology that helps athletes to smash records be MY ACCOUNT permitted? BACK ISSUES NEWS STORY ABOUT US Polygamy benefits CUSTOMER SERVICE Polygamy benefits IFrame Want to live longer? The key for men is to have lots of wives [IMG] and many children PARTNERS Advertising New Scientist is now Self-recognition, once thought to be an ability enjoyed only partnered with by select primates, has now been demonstrated in a bird. Approved Index. Visit the site to get free The finding has raised questions about part of the brain quotes from website called the neocortex, something the self-aware magpie does designers and a range not even possess. of web, IT and marketing services in In humans, the ability to recognise oneself in a mirror the UK. develops around the age of 18 months and coincides with the first signs of social behaviour. So-called "mirror mark tests", where a mark is placed on the animal in such a way that it can only be observed when it looks at its reflection, have been used to sort the self-aware beasts from the rest. Of hundreds tested, in addition to humans, only four apes, bottlenose dolphins and Asian elephants have passed muster. Helmut Prior at Goethe University in Frankfurt and his colleagues applied a red, yellow or black spot to a place on the necks of five magpies. The stickers could only be seen using a mirror. Then he gave the birds mirrors. Catch a glimpse The feel of the mark on their necks did not seem to alarm them. But when the birds with coloured neck spots caught a glimpse of themselves, they scratched at their necks - a clear indication that they recognised the image in the mirror as their own. Those who received a black sticker, invisible against the black neck feathers, did not react. Self-recognition was thought to reside in the neocortex, but birds don't have one. Franz de Waal at Emory University in Atlanta points out that the magpie does nevertheless have a big brain. "You need a large brain with a lot of connectivity," he says. "If it had been a sparrow, it would have been a problem." The authors suggest that self-recognition in birds and mammals may be a case of convergent evolution, where similar evolutionary pressures result in similar behaviours or traits, although they arrive at them via different routes. De Waal agrees: "Magpies are known for their ability to steal shiny objects and to hide away their loot. It's not too far-fetched that a master thief like a magpie has that perspective-taking ability," he says, referring to the idea that the birds have a "theory of mind". Journal reference: PLoS Biology (DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060202) Comment _____________________ subject Comment No HTML except lower case ___________________________________________________ italic ___________________________________________________ tags or ___________________________________________________ lower ___________________________________________________ case ___________________________________________________ bold tags, please: <i> or <b> Your _____________________ name Your _____________________ email We need your email in case we need to contact you about the comment. We will not use it for any other purpose. [ Submit ] There are 13 comments on 3 pages 1 | 2 | 3 | Next | Most Recent | See all VIEW THREAD >> Idiots By William Athan Tue Aug 19 04:31:51 BST 2008 Only an idiot makes up ones mind completely based on what other people have told them,and calls it a "fact", like "duh animals are not sentient" when they clearly are and likely always have been. Many "scientists" on the other hand... REPORT | REPLY VIEW THREAD >> Not Just That By Tom Potts Tue Aug 19 09:25:49 BST 2008 I have a running battle with Magpies stealing food and eggs from my hens. They pick up some amazing clues as to when to risk stealing and when not. Like humans they are greedy though and sometimes eat too much to fly. I've also noticed that coarse fishermen cant feel pain - if you hold them underwater they dont make a noise so all that thrashing must just be instinct and not a response to pain or terror. REPORT | REPLY VIEW THREAD >> Mirrors Are Shiny. . . By Rik Tue Aug 19 09:30:37 BST 2008 If they recognize themselves in a mirror then maybe they steal shiny objects because they're vain. REPORT | REPLY There are 13 comments on 3 pages 1 | 2 | 3 | Next | Most Recent | See all All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us. 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Vacancies [__________________] Advertising </pre><p><a href='item?id=281521'>discuss Comments</a></p> http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1209-forbes-misses-the-point-of-the-4-day-work-week <pre> 37signals logo This is Signal vs. Noise, a weblog by 37signals about design, business, experience, simplicity, the web, culture, and more. Established 1999 in Chicago. Visit the Product Blog for more information on our products. Jobs: Gigs: Forbes misses the point of the 4-day work week Jason Aug 20 23 comments Latest by Frank There's a piece in Forbes called Why A Four-Day Work Week Doesn't Work that suggests: But there are serious drawbacks. Packing 40 hours into four days isn't necessarily an efficient way to work. Many people find that eight hours are tough enough; requiring them to stay for an extra two could cause morale and productivity to decrease. As for saving on the cost of commuting, it likely isn't true. The article is right: More hours in fewer days is not an efficient way to work. That's why this article misses the point. The point of the 4-day work week is about doing less work. It's not about 4 10-hour days for the magical 40-hour work week. It's about 4 normalish 8-hour days for the new and improved 32-hour work week. The numbers are just used to illustrate a point. Results, not hours, are what matter, but working longer hours doesn't translate to better results. The law of diminishing returns kicks in quick when you're overworked. Besides, very few people work even 8 hours a day. You're lucky if you get a few good hours in between all the meetings, interruptions, web surfing, office politics, and personal business that permeates typical work day. Fewer official working hours help squeeze the fat out of the typical work week. Once everyone has less time to get their stuff done, they respect that time even more. People become stingy with their time and that's a good thing. They don't waste it on things that just don't matter. When you have fewer hours you usually spend them more wisely. So don't think 4 days means cramming the same amount of time a shorter week. Longer days isn't the goal. Think 4 days means a shorter week with less time to get things done. And that's actually what you want. Looking for a job? Got a position to fill? Check out the Job Board. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Over 1 million people use 37signals' simple web-based software to collaborate on projects, track contacts, and organize their business with an intranet. 23 comments so far GeeIWonder 20 Aug 08 I think you forgot to close one of your tags - the bottom two paragraphs are strobing. Forbes is (whether they know it or not) talking about the 4 day work week as it is likely to be implemented by people who suggest things as meetings based on articles in Forbes. Rob 20 Aug 08 I agree with you on this one Jason, that Forbes misses the point on what a 4 day work week is all about. Unfortunately, payroll is based on 40 hour work week at most places, therefore in order to get paid your salary you have to work 40 hours, even if it means working 4, 10 hour days. I understand that it should be based on results and not hours worked, but that's going to take some drastic change in the ways companies operate. R Spencer Fry 20 Aug 08 I'm kind of shocked that Forbes completely missed the point of the 4 day work week. They're out in left field with this article. However, I'm not entirely surprised considering it's coming from Forbes-the corporate world's magazine of choice. Hans Sjunnesson 20 Aug 08 Just a quick thought. If you can manage to get the output you want in less than than the standard week that's great. You won't need to work the fifth day. But where it gets iffy is when you try to get a hold of someone and he's not working that day. Do everyone take fridays off, or mondays, or do some people work have half of monday and half of friday? Then you need to inform everyone who might want to get a hold of you of your schedule. And I know, I know, constant availability isn't a part of Being Real but if the guy I need to get a hold of to restart a server isn't working that day, then I might not get anything done that day either. Anonymous Coward 20 Aug 08 I believe the 4 day/32 hours work week are only a good fit for positions in companies that are "desk" jobs. The author could have been thinking of work in a manufacturing factory on the floor. Because operations are a 24 hours a day, I think the 4 day/40 hours work week fits better. And if the floor employees are working those 40 hours a week, it would be hard pressed for the managers to work 32 hours and get paid for 40 hours. Justin 20 Aug 08 The right way to do the 4 day work-week: how 37signals does it (4 *8, or less if the extra hours aren't needed). The way the rest of the world would do it: 4 *10, with extra teleconferences from home for the other day, and work expected from home over the weekend. Rob Bazinet 20 Aug 08 I think you are spot-on Jason. Forbes article is a perfect example of an old-school rag trying to remain relevant and not getting-it in the end. Too many organizations think more is better when it is proven that is not the case. 37Signals and other companies changing the way everyone has worked for so long is great and hopefully will lead to more companies doing the same. It is important for folks to enjoy their lives and not "live to work" but "work to live". Jens Alfke 20 Aug 08 I think a 32-hour week might work well for bright and shiny tech companies, or other environments where people are motivated enough to get the same work done in fewer hours. But in 90+% of businesses, statements like "once everyone has less time to get their stuff done, they respect that time even more" are naively optimistic. France mandated a 35-hour work week a few years ago, and it doesn't work well at all; it's hurt productivity and caused countless employees to sneak back into work after hours to get their stuff done. Don Schenck 20 Aug 08 My daughter had a child a year ago, and recently she (my daughter) went to a three-days-a-week schedule. Three eight-hour days. Her first comment? "I get as much done in 24 hours as I did in 40 hours!" There's a line, to be sure. But if we are to believe the studies about how much time gets wasted ... I bet the 40 hour week yields about 20 hours of actual work. Put another way: I can work at my office at home and, in four hours, get two days'-worth of software development done versus at the client site. There's something about blaring Rolling Stones that makes me productive. Tom 20 Aug 08 I'm going to have to disagree with the statement hardly anyone actually works 8 hours in a day. Like someone mentioned, if you're in a factory, you work every minute you're not on break or in the bathroom. I've done it for 8 hours, with one 10 minute break, and one 15 minute break. Trust me, a four hour work week would be the best thing that ever happened. I came away believing anyone who works in an office doesn't know how good they have it. Factory workers have to work 8 hours because they don't have meetings, email, web surfing, office politics or personal business they're allowed to attend to. Tom 20 Aug 08 I meant a four day work week, not four hour. :) JF 20 Aug 08 Tom: Fair enough. I'm mostly talking about office workers. There are certainly exceptions. Mike 20 Aug 08 I think there are two dynamics at play here. First, the Forbes perspective is that things are hourly - like a manufacturing job, or professional services that are billed by the hour. In those situations, the 40-hour week (regardless of the # of days) is the model around which their businesses and staffing plans are built. However, S&N nails the concept that sticking to a 40-hour/week construct in a business that is not built on an hourly labor model is short-sighted. Labor models should reflect the desired outcomes of the business; if it is to maximize billing, then 40 hours is the standard. If it is to produce a deliverable of some sort, then doing it most efficiently should be the standard. wheat 20 Aug 08 "but if the guy I need to get a hold of to restart a server isn't working that day" That would be a prime example of bad management. Coverage is key. If there's only one guy in your org who knows how to restart a server, there's a lack of cross-training going on. In short, you'd do the same thing in a 4 *8 or 4 *10 work scenario that you do know: you'd send an email/text/voice mail and wait for a reply. It's no different than when people are our sick or out on leave. JF 20 Aug 08 France mandated a 35-hour work week a few years ago, and it doesn't work well at all; it's hurt productivity and caused countless employees to sneak back into work after hours to get their stuff done. I don't know the details so I can't speak directly to this experiment, but if the way they are working didn't change then this doesn't surprise me. If they are still having the same number of meetings and still encouraging the same number of interruptions, then working less isn't going to help. You have to work less and work differently. Since you have less time, you should reconsider the things you spend time on. Is that extra meeting really necessary? Do we really need to take up another hour today talking about this thing we talked about last week? Etc. The shorter work week should encourage reevaluating how you work, not just the number of hours you are expected to put in. GeeIWonder 20 Aug 08 I came away believing anyone who works in an office doesn't know how good they have it. Factory workers have to work 8 hours because they don't have meetings, email, web surfing, office politics or personal business they're allowed to attend to. Most of us had first jobs. We know we have it good. A bad day at the office beats a lot of those days. It's not all cut and dry though. You wouldn't think people who analyze business or production for a living would have such a hard time with the concept of diminishing returns. I can see how 40hr scheme would pose real challenges in say, a union shop. Benefits etc are based on your hours. There would also have to be a culture change. But then again, you're also talking about a 33% raise in terms of $/hr (or 52 more days paid vacation). Tell me that wouldn't garner some goodwill at the table with the union and others. Companies (even factories) might save on health care, accidents, day care programs and other costs. Production per $ might actually go up. It's not unlike the difference between preventive care and treatment of a disease when it emerges vs. palliative care. I also find it funny that France apparently passed a 35hr law. When I was there (not that long ago, honest) 16yr-olds were in school 44hrs/week-it was only about 40 for the 11yr-olds though. Walker Hamilton 20 Aug 08 Tell this to the Obama for America campaign staff.... Daniel Tenner 20 Aug 08 Well, this is not really a fair criticism of Forbes, in this case. Yes, Forbes "misses the point" of the "4-day workweek" as preached by 37-signals... but there's a good reason for that: they weren't talking about that version of the 4-day workweek. The Forbes article clearly refers to a 4-day-workweek scheme instituted by Chrysler, not 37-signals - and their analysis of why it's a load of bollocks is pretty much spot on. Forbes hasn't missed the point - Chrysler has.. assuming they were even aware of the existence of that point in the first place, which I doubt. Here we have a case of two things called by the same terms but referring to very different initiatives. Ironically, I think 37-signals missed the point that the article wasn't about them! Geoff 20 Aug 08 France reduced the work week in an effort to reduce unemployment. Their reasoning: if the working people worked less, more people would need to be hired to get the same amount of work done. This is/was a silly strategy and completely at odds with JF's point: production vs hours. France actually wants people to produce less in less hours, so that more people can contribute to production. J 20 Aug 08 Daniel: The title of the Forbes piece wasn't "Why a 4-day work week doesn't work at Chrysler" it was "Why A Four-Day Work Week Doesn't Work." That's a categorical denial. Daniel Tenner 20 Aug 08 @J: Forgivable, considering that Forbes belong to the 99.99% of the corporate world who have never heard of 37Signals and are completely unaware that there is more than one meaning for "4-day work-week". As much as you may wish to think otherwise, the accepted definition of terms is not made up by 37Signals. endekks 20 Aug 08 @Tom: I am pretty sure that Jason may have been applying the logic to office workers - and not factory workers. Doing routine work day in and out results in a process which gets streamlined to a pretty efficient level after some time. So more time would likely offer more final product. But seeing as how 37S moved to the 4 day work-week and they are an office, not a factory, which requires meetings, client interaction and certain types of problem solving which many factory workers never encounter, it seems abundantly clear that they are applying this model to other workers in a similar environment. Also, having worked in both a production (i.e. physical routine) job and in an office environment, I can say without a doubt that while the routine work made me more physically tired, I never encountered a serious mental drain that wasn't cured by engaging in a hobby when I got home. In addition, I could count on a schedule that meant I would make plans with friends for an hour after work - and almost never have to cancel because of something at work getting in the way. I knew when I could expect to be at work, when I could expect to be free, and how to re-energise myself. Unfortunately, this is most certainly not the case for my office work. I work at least 10-12 hours a day - plus have an hour long commute both to and from the office on a ridiculously packed Tokyo train system. While my job entitles me the luxuries of surfing the net from time to time, sitting in a chair most of the day and occasional flexibility to move some things around to tend to personal matters, it also is far removed from any sort of regular schedule, the ability to get over-time the instant I work more than my scheduled hours because of union protection and clear easily-projected goals in the production arena. The time it takes to get 100 engines dropped in a chassis can be much more easily determined than how many hours it will take to get a back-end system deployed for a client's web-site or come up with a design direction for an ad campaign that a client will like. Accordingly, the work in some offices has a much higher mental toll on people. And i don't know about you, but often a hot bath, a good meal and a good night's sleep is often the only thing I need to take away the physical effects of a manual-labour heavy day. Unfortunately, those treatments are not always effective for mental exhaustion - especially sleep, because unlike factory jobs, office work can follow you home. I am not saying office work is harder than factory work. I am saying - as you pointed out - that they are different types of work. However, you seemed to only highlight what you consider to be the advantages of office work that factory work does not have. Seems to be a case of "grass is greener". The fact remains that unlike factory work, hours are not always the deciding factor in how long it takes to produce results. When I worked in a shop and did physical work, being in a bad mood because of a fight with my girlfriend had little effect on my performance for the day. The same does not hold true for my current office work now when something goes wrong at home. So a good deal of how you get "mental" work done (as opposed to "physical") lies in your mental approach. Studies have shown continuously that in creative environments people being in the office for less time, but staying committed to work for the hours they are there, not only boosts productivity, but morale and employee / employer relationships. I am absolutely convinced that spending less time in a factory would have the opposite effect. Sure, morale may be higher for employees, but that will go away when everyone is laid off for not getting more product on the floor. _ In regards to the hours in the office, I wish someone would tell Japan. If there was ever a country that follows the policy of "asses in seats is of paramount importance", it's Japan. I cannot tell you how often trains are overstuffed from 23:00 until 24:30 on weeknights from salarymen finally making their way home after a day that began at 8:00 or earlier. And there is pretty much no such thing as over-time here. With a suicide rate incredibly high (some times at work, or - more popular - on the way to work), you tell me if more hours working in an office surfing the net, checking email and sitting around all day have no mental toll. ____ Personally, I always work on a performance level. I put in more hours than I would like, but I do get some satisfaction out of what I do, and I also have a sizeable staff of Japanese people under me who are very slow to adopting controversial work policies such as the 4 day work-week idea. Fortunately, however, I have managed to take a firm stance on not going to meetings unless they are really necessary for me to attend. I am just hoping my next step will be milestone based and not hour based. Frank 20 Aug 08 I'm sorry, Jason, but I just don't see how dropping the work week by 8 hours is going to encourage some dramatic change in work format. 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Enter your email below: _____________________ [ Subscribe ] Content copyright (c)1999-2008 37signals, LLC. </pre><p><a href='item?id=281466'>10 Comments</a></p> http://www.catonmat.net/blog/mit-introduction-to-algorithms-part-one/ <pre> Link: archives: August 2008 Link: archives: July 2008 Link: archives: June 2008 Link: archives: May 2008 Link: archives: April 2008 Link: archives: March 2008 Link: archives: February 2008 Link: archives: January 2008 Link: archives: November 2007 Link: archives: October 2007 Link: archives: September 2007 Link: archives: August 2007 Link: archives: July 2007 * Home * Projects * Forums * Sitemap * Feedback * About Me post 'good coders code, great reuse' to del.icio.us post 'good coders code, great reuse' to digg post 'good coders code, great reuse' to reddit subscribe to 'good coders code, great reuse' posts via feed good coders code, great reuse Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement. Fred Brooks Introduction to Algorithms 19 Aug 2008 08:45 pm 1 Star 2 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars 5 Stars (No Ratings Yet) Loading ... Loading ... MIT's Introduction to Algorithms: Lectures 1 and 2 MIT AlgorithmsI just finished watching the last lecture of MIT's "Introduction to Algorithms" course. Having a great passion for all aspects of computing, I decided to share everything I learned with you, my dear readers! This is the first post in an article series about this course. As I wrote earlier, I am very serious about watching video lectures. If they are math-intensive, I usually take notes as if I were in the classroom. Lectures in this course were exactly like that - logarithms, big-o's, thetas, expectations, and all the other math guys fighting with each other on the blackboards. There are totally 23 video lectures, each around 1 hour 20 minutes long. I will be posting about 2 - 3 lectures at a time which will result in approximately 10 blog posts. Each post will contain annotated lecture, along with embedded video of the lecture and a time-stamped list of topics covered in the lecture. I will also post the notes I took myself as I watched the lectures (actually, I just bought a scanner (Canon CanonScan 4400F) just for this purpose!) Understanding and designing effective algorithms is a very important skill for a top-notch programmer. You can still do good without knowing much about algorithms, but knowing them makes you superior. There are two kinds of people, those who can design effective algorithms and those who don't. ;) Let's start with Lecture 1 of this course. Lecture 1: Analysis of Algorithms The first lecture is given by the famous professor Charles E. Leiserson. He is the L in CLRS. If that doesn't ring you a bell - it's one of the most popular books on algorithms! He starts the lecture by explaining what this course and algorithms will be all about. He says that this course will be about "Analysis of Algorithms" and states: "Analysis of algorithms is the theoretical study of computer program performance and resource usage". Designing great software is not just about performance. Charles presents a list of 12 things that can be more important than performance. Just for comparison with algorithms guru, what do you think can be more important than performance? Here are some of the things more important than performance that Charles listed: * modularity, * correctness, * maintainability, * security, * functionaly, * robustness, * user-friendliness, * programmer's time, * simplicity, * extensibility, * reliability, and * scalability. He also asks "Why study algorithms and performance at all?". He and students answer: * Sometimes performance is correlated with user-friendliness. * Performance draws line between feasible and unfeasible. * Algorithms give language for talking about program behavior. * Performance can be used to "pay" for other things, such as security, features and user-friendliness. The lecture continues with the definition of the Sorting Problem - given a sequence (a1, a2, ..., an) of numbers, permute them in such a way that a1 <= a2 <= ... <= an. There are various algorithms to solve this problem. Two algorithms are presented to solve this problems - one of them is Insertion Sort and the other is Merge Sort. Running time of these algorithms is analyzed by introducing Asymptotic Analysis and Recursion Trees. Here is the whole lecture: [EMBED] Direct URL: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8458939654069345445 Oops, I accidentally uploaded Lecture 2 twice! I am uploading the real Lecture 1 now! It will be up shortly! Sorry! Topics covered in lecture 1: * [17:15] Main topic of the course - Analysis of algorithms. * [19:00] What's more important than performance? * [22:03] Why study algorithms and performance? * [27:45] The sorting problem. * [29:30] Insertion sort algorithm * [34:30] Example of Insertion sort. * [36:25] Running time of algorithms. * [39:39] Definition of worst-case, average-case and best-case types of analysis. * [46:50] How to analyze the Insertion sort's worst-case running time? * [49:28] BIG IDEA - Asymptotic analysis. * [50:49] Asymptotic notation - theta notation. * [57:14] Insertion sort analysis. * [01:02:42] Is Insertion sort fast? * [01:03:40] Merge sort algorithm. * [01:05:25] Example of Merge subroutine of Merge sort. * [01:08:15] Analysis of Merge sort's running time. * [01:10:55] Recurrence equation for Merge sort. * [01:13:15] Recursion tree solution of the Merge sort's recurrence equation. Lecture 1 notes: MIT Algorithms Lecture 1 Notes Thumbnail. MIT Algorithms Lecture 1 Notes Page 1 of 2. Thumbnail. Page 2 of 2. Lecture 1, page 1 of 2. Lecture 1, page 2 of 2. Lecture 2: Asymptotic Notation Lecture 2, on the other hand, is given by genius professor Erik Demaine. He is the youngest professor in the history of the MIT! He became professor at MIT at 20! Wow! This lecture is all about mathematical notation (Asymptotic Notation) used in the analysis of algorithms. It's the big-o notation, big omega notation, theta notation, small-o and small-omega notation. The second half of the lecture is devoted to solving recurrence equations. Three methods are presented: * Substitution method, * Recursion-tree method, and * The Master method. Here is the whole lecture: [EMBED] Direct URL: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6724701313234177393 Topics covered in lecture 2: * [01:25] Big-o (upper bounds) notation. * [03:58] Set definition of big-o notation. * [05:25] The meaning of O(h(n)) in notation f(n) = g(n) + O(h(n)). * [10:20] Big-omega (lower bounds) notation. * [11:40] Analogies of O, W and TH to comparison operations of real numbers. * [12:28] Theta (tight bounds) notation. * [13:40] Small-o and small-omega notation. * [17:03] Solving recurrences: substitution method. * [37:56] Recursion-tree method. * [49:00] The Master method. * [01:02:00] Proof sketch of the Master method. Lecture 2 notes: MIT Algorithms Lecture 2 Notes Thumbnail. MIT Algorithms Lecture 2 Notes Page 1 of 2. Thumbnail. Page 2 of 2. Lecture 2, page 1 of 2. Lecture 2, page 2 of 2. MIT Algorithms Lecture 2 Notes Thumbnail. Master's Theorem. Lecture 2. Sketch of Master's theorem proof. Have fun absorbing all this information! Until next post! Ps. It turned out that the lectures were not available anywhere but from MIT's OCW website. I found that they were released under CC license, which allowed me to upload them to Google Video, so I can embed them in the posts! Post tags: algorithms, asymptotic analysis, big o, capital omega, charles leiserson, clrs, insertion sort, master method, mathematics, merge sort, mit, performance, proof, recursion tree, small o, small omega, sorting problem, theta Bookmark with del.icio.us: del.icio.us: MIT's Introduction to Algorithms: Lectures 1 and 2Post to Reddit: reddit: MIT's Introduction to Algorithms: Lectures 1 and 2Digg it! digg: MIT's Introduction to Algorithms: Lectures 1 and 2Stumble it!stumbleupon: MIT's Introduction to Algorithms: Lectures 1 and 2 Email Post Email 'MIT's Introduction to Algorithms: Lectures 1 and 2' to a friend | Print Post Print 'MIT's Introduction to Algorithms: Lectures 1 and 2' | Permalink Permalink to 'MIT's Introduction to Algorithms: Lectures 1 and 2' | Trackback Trackback to 'MIT's Introduction to Algorithms: Lectures 1 and 2' (Popularity: 4%) 1,716 Views Did you like this post? Subscribe here: [IMG] [IMG] Related Posts * Performance Tuning Best Practices for MySQL * Musical Geek Friday #10: TECO and DDT * Theorizing from Data by Peter Norvig (Video Lecture) * Genetic Algorithms 101 6 Responses 1. James says: August 20th, 2008 at 4:13 am Is it just me, or are both videos lecture #2? 2. Peteris Krumins says: August 20th, 2008 at 4:46 am Oops, James, you are right. I have made some kind of a mistake and uploaded the same video twice or something. Fixing it now. 3. Danno says: August 20th, 2008 at 5:00 am Thanks for the transcodes Peteris. I can hardly believe that MIT decided to use Real for these... unless it's just a container for the encode. 4. Peteris Krumins says: August 20th, 2008 at 5:08 am Danno, it's true. MIT used Real for those. I took the opportunity to upload them to Google Video, as they were released under CC license. I am uploading a video at a time as I write more posts. 5. Matt says: August 20th, 2008 at 5:31 am So, I've taken and taught this class (as a TA, that is), and the one thing I need to emphasize to anyone that wants to really go through this class through OCW... the bulk of the learning in this class is in the problem sets. They are hard. They are very hard. They normally took a good 8+ hours each for a solid group of 2-4 MIT CS students. I haven't looked at the OCW versions, but don't waste the material by looking at the solutions before you have a good struggle with them. As a student, and as a teacher, they were by far the most important aspect of the class. 6. Brennan says: August 20th, 2008 at 6:32 am As someone who has also taken the class, I second what Matt said. Most of the learning will happen from the problem sets. But also as Matt said, the problem sets usually are worked on in groups, so if you have a friend who's interested as well, it would probably make your life a lot easier to have someone to bounce ideas off of. 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